Bill-hook.



PATBNTBD MAYzl E. D. coNKLIN.

BILL HOOK.

APPLICATION FILED rma. 26,1007.

lrzafevzon 19% rn: Nolmrs Penales co.. wAsuinaraN, n. c.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

EDWARD DODD OONKLIN, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITEHEAD & HOAG COMPANY, OF NEWARK, N. J., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

BILL-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1907.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD DoDD CONK- LIN, of Newark, in the county of Essex, in the State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bill-Hooks, ot which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in advertising bill hooks in which a reasonably stiff wire hook is rotatably and vslidably mounted upon the lower end of a paste-board or similar card of cheap material.

(adapted. to contain advertising matter) in such manner that the hook may be adjusted endwise or folded flat wise against one side of the card so as to occupy a minimum space scarcely more than the outer dimensions of the card, or such hook may be drawn downwardly and automatically locked in operative position at substantially right angles to the plane oit the card, th'e adjustment of said hook being made without obscuring any part oi the printed matter upon the surface oi the card. These hooks are usually held in place by a thin disk or plate of tin or other light inexpensive sheet metal which. embraces the sh ank of the hook and is attached by suitable eyelets or equivalent means to the Acard so that said shank is interposed between the metal disk or plate and adjacent Vtace of the card and is adapted to be adjusted endwise or rotated upon its axis.

The essential object of my present invention is to provide the upper end of the shank of the hook with a itlat integral tongue formed by 'flattening the upper terminal end of the hook transversely and returning such llattened end downwardly along the shank a suitable distance to allow its lower end to be sprung outwardly from the shank as the hook is moved downwardly and brought at right angles to the plane o'f the card so as to bring the spring tongue into irictional engagement with the outer face of a flattened portion of the disk whereby the hook will be held against rotation in its operative position, thereby bringing substantially the entire strain, due to any attempt to turn the hook when locked in its operative position wholly upon the metal disk and spring tongue rather than upon the weaker paste-board back and eyelets by which the disk is secured to the plate.

A further object is to provide the disk with a lengthwise channel sufficiently large to receive and guide the .shank of the hook in its vertical adjustment and to flatten a portion ot one side ot the channel, as for instance, the upper end thereof, sutliciently to form a fiat engaging tace for the fiat end of the spring tongue as the hook is drawn downwardly into engagement therewith, the free extremity ot the tongue being preferably deflected outwardly so as to ride easily upon and along the iiattened portion'oi the disk as the hook is drawn downwardly without further manipulation by the operator.

Other objects and uses will appear in the Vfollowing description: i

In the drawings-liligures 1 and 2 are perspective views of an advertising bill lile, the hook in Fig. l, being shown in its inoperative position as adjusted upwardly to its foldedA position, and in Fig. 2 as drawn downwardly and interlocking with the disk' to hold the hook against rotation relatively to the card. Fig. 3 is an. enlarged vertical sectional view through the lower p ortion ot the card and. disk showing the bill hook in elevation in its operative position with the spring tongue interlocking with the upper edge ot the disk. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective vi ew oitI the detached sheet metal disk viewed from the inner side. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the upper end ot the shank of the bill hook showing particularly the -liat spring tongue.

This device comprises essentially three parts, via-an advertising card or plate -1-, a hook retaining disk #2- and a bill hook H3, the card or plate -1- being preferably made ol" pasteboard or equivalent cheap material upon which may be printed any suitable advertising or printed matter and which is provided near its upper end with an eyelet twhereby it may be suspended upon a hook or other similar available support.

The disk -2-a is preferably 'formed ol tin or other comparatively inexpensive sheet metal and is secured by suitable eyelets -5- to one side and near the bottom of the card or plate -1-, the central portion of said disk being pressed outwardly to form a diametrically extending groove or channel -6 extending from bottom to top of said disk for IOO receiving and guiding the shank as -7- of lthe hook -3-, the upper end oi' the outer wall of the channel -6- being preferably rectangular in cross section and forming an elongated flat surface -8- for a purpose presently described.

The shank -7- of the hook -3- is interposed between the disk -2- and adjacent 'face of the card or plate -1- and eX tends entirely through and is guided in the channel -6-, said shank terminating at its upper end in a spring tongue -9- which is flattened transversely and is returned along the shank -7- a sufficient distance to permit the 'free end of the tongue to be sprung radially of the shank. This tongue is tensioned by its own elasticity toward the shank h-7- so that the intervening space between the tongue and shank is normally slightly less than the thickness of the iattened. portion -S-of the outer side of the channel 6-4 and the lower end of the tongue is preferably deflected outwardly so that the intervening space between the free extremity of the tongue and shank is equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of the flattened portion -8- of the disk -2 so that when the bill hook is turned at right angles to the card or plate --las shown in Fig. 3 and drawn downwardly, the free end of the spring tongue n9- will ride upon and along the outer face of the flattened portion -S thereby causing the said iattened portion of the disk -2- to bring the tongue downwardly against its own tension whereby the flattened portion of the disk -2- and tongue #9- are brought into frictional engagement with each other to prevent turning of the hook upon the aXis of the shank 7 or in the channel -6-.

By this construction I am enabled to throw the strain of any attempt to turn the hook when in its locked position wholly upon the metal disk rather than upon the weaker card board plate -1-, which construction also relieves the strain upon the eyelets -5- by which the disk is secured to the card or plate -1- thereby increasing the durability and longevity of the device as a whole.

What I claim is:

l. In a device of the character described, a card or plate adapted to receive advertising matter in combination with a thin piece of sheet metal secured to the plate and provided with a guide, a bill hook having its shank movable in said guide, and a spring tongue on the shank adapted to be brought into interlocking engagement with a portion of the sheet metal disk to lock the hook against rotation when moved in one direction.

2. A device of the character described comprising a 'lat card board and a sheet metal plate secured thereto, the latter being provided with a channel, and a iiat portion at one end of the channel, a hook having a shank guided in said channel between the disk and card and provided with a 'lat spring tongue adapted to be brought into engagement with the iiattened portion of the sheet metal plate.

3. A device of the character described comprising a back piece, and a sheet metal plate secured thereto and provided with a flattened surface near its upper edge, a hook having a shank interposed between the sheet metal plate and back piece and movable endwise, said shank having its upper end provided with a flat spring tongue adapted to be brought into frictional engagement with the fiat surface of the sheet metal plate as the shank is drawn downwardly.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of February 1907.

EDVARD DODD CONKLIN.

Vitnesses:

JAMES C. DAY, THOMAS N. DoDD. 

